WATERBURY — Arrest warrants unsealed Friday show that a city teenager was accused of brutally raping a girl at random in Fulton Park, robbing a group of kids playing basketball and is now suspected in a street robbery near the park.

Although those crimes occurred in early to mid-July, police didn't notify the public of them in the days after they occurred.

The highest priority for police, said Police Chief Vernon Riddick Jr., was to catch the rapist. After the sexual assault was reported, Riddick said, he placed plainclothes officers, undercover units and decoys in the park to prevent another rape from occurring.

"We thought that too much information early on would spook the perpetrator and we would never catch him," Riddick said. "It was a very difficult decision to make, but we based it on a risk analysis and our experience. If we were not fruitful in the short term, we would have informed the public and enlisted their help."

POLICE MADE AN ARREST in the case days after the rape was reported. Rashard Crawford, 18, is being held on bonds totaling $1.75 million. He was charged with aggravated first-degree sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping and strangulation, among other crimes.

The strategy by authorities was to assign officers to more rural parts of the park where there were fewer people — places where police suspected another rape could occur, Riddick said.

The warrants show that an 18-year-old woman, whose name isn't being released to protect her identity, told police she was violently raped by a man who followed her while she walked into the northern section of the park by Greenwood Avenue on July 9.

The teen told police she had tried to pretend to be on her cell phone in order to dissuade the man from bothering her.

He passed by her, bent down to tie his shoe then came up behind her again.

The woman told investigators she was grabbed on her backside, but when she pushed her assailant away and asked what he was doing, he just stared at her. As she tried to get away, the man punched her in the side of the head, then repeatedly pummeled her until she fell to the ground.

The punches kept coming to the back of her head as she tried to get away, but her assailant choked her and put her in a headlock, she told police. She blacked out during the assault, she told police. The man threatened to kill her if she didn't stop screaming, according to the warrant.

After the rape, the woman told police her assailant tried to soothe her, wiping the tears from her cheeks. The woman feared for her life and tried to do what he said so he wouldn't kill her, she told an investigator.

He also robbed the woman of her wallet, she told police.

The man, who she later identified as Crawford, finally released the woman, telling her he was "proud of her" for fighting back. It was what he said she was supposed to do in that situation, the woman recounted to police.

POLICE NOTED THE WOMAN HAD BRUISES, cuts and scrapes on her face, neck, arms and legs. Her eyes also showed signs that she had been choked. Investigators also found items from a woman's purse near the spot where she said the assault occurred.

Days after the rape, a robber struck in the park.

Crawford was developed as a suspect in the robbery of several youngsters who were playing a pickup basketball game in the park three days after the rape, according to police.

An 18-year-old man told police he was playing ball on the courts near the back of the park when he was held up by a man who claimed that he had a gun. The man stole the teen's cell phone, sneakers and shirt before leaving. He also stole a dollar from a 12-year-old who was also playing, the boy told police.

Police said they have now tied Crawford to a street robbery on lower Cooke Street on July 6. Victims provided the same description of the assailant in each of the violent incidents. Detective Mike McKenna and the Street Crimes Unit identified Crawford through the witnesses and surveillance, which led to his arrest, police said.

CRAWFORD HAS DENIED taking part in any of the crimes. But police noted he had a scratch on his shoulder blade that matched a wound the woman said she left on his back during their struggle. He's due in Waterbury Superior Court in August.

Michael Salvio, vice president of the Fulton Park Conservancy, constantly works with neighbors to patrol and watch over the park. The rape occurred on the same day youngsters were in the park helping to clean it up, he said, but the children were gone by the time it occurred.

Salvia said he understood police had the assailant in their sights and inundated the park with officers. The fact that the police were there from July 9 on, eased his concerns, he said.

"On the other hand, the public should know. Thanks to the community's efforts, the public is using the park constantly now," he said. "The chief told me, from the 9th on police had plainclothes officers and decoys. The police were there protecting everybody. They got their man. I can live with that."

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saints wrote on Aug 1, 2014 11:46 PM:

" Surgical castration would be appropriate in this case along with life imprisonment. "

" I still think we should have public executions for scumbags like this, you know he will never be a contributing member of society. If not public execution, perhaps public castration with a pair of garden shears!! "

" "Art Vandelay" based on this individuals name we can surely guess he is an american don't try to blame every crime that happens here to the poor immigrant people.They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; and from all over the US and international if we must get technical on this. "

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